


The Monochromatic and the Mundane

by Destini Islands (Destini)



Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Aaravos Week (The Dragon Prince), Gen, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-12
Updated: 2020-02-12
Packaged: 2021-02-27 20:40:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22671919
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Destini/pseuds/Destini%20Islands
Summary: For Day 2: Monochromatic of #AaravosWeek2020She decides to continue on. Every step brings her closer to some fate she’s unaware of. She walks with purpose, knowing each step might be her last but fleeing the monochromatic mundane of her past life as if it is even more deadly.And finally - she finds something of interest. Someone?It’s an elf, she thinks. They’re tall with horns, vividly colored blue skin, and lengthy white hair.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 11





	The Monochromatic and the Mundane

It's not every day all the guards are sleeping, or that those who seek to destroy outsiders have abandoned their post. One shouldn't find comfort in this stillness. They should be on edge with their minds wandering to fantasies of being led into a trap.

But she continues on, a sole human with meager weapons and the single drive to enter Xadia at even the cost of her life. She wants to feel the dirt there and see the impossible creatures she's been told of.

It will be magical and it will be worth it. She doesn't assume she'll make it out alive, but she will kill to make it in. Past the trenches of lava with their stench of the burning sun, past where a dragon should have awaited her, she finally sees green trees. Those are familiar. The fruit they bear? Not so.

The colors become more vibrant with each step until she's lost in them - twirling in a rainbow of color so fast that she sees spots like raindrops spreading across it all. She falls, breathing it in.

And then she stops.

Is this all?

She sits against a tree with eyes that feel heavy. Fatigue and boredom sets in. Where are the delights, the magic, the bewilderment? Her grandmother was always right, she'd never lie about something like this. This land certainly is different from their single home on the other side of the world. Her grandmother, the seer and the only other person she’s ever known warned her about the war and its aftermath. She warned her of the Sunfire elf guards, of the great dragons, of the hatred of humanity.

But she sees none of it here.

She decides to continue on. Every step brings her closer to some fate she’s unaware of. She walks with purpose, knowing each step might be her last but fleeing the monochromatic mundane of her past life as if it is even more deadly.

And finally - she finds something of interest. Someone?

It’s an elf, she thinks. They’re tall with horns, vividly colored blue skin, and lengthy white hair. Even from the back, she can tell they must be of high status. She doesn’t know anything about Xadia, but surely such fine linens are expensive. Surely one doesn’t causally wear such things outside.

As if sensing her focused gaze, they finally turn around. She freezes. It’s far too late to hide. If that’s what she wanted she should’ve done it earlier. She doesn’t even reach for her old dagger, eyes widening as the elf sees her.

It’s a man - maybe? He’s even more imposing from the front, with his golden eyes and glittering, white freckles. And those ears! Pointed, just like her grandmother said. He’s everything she described and yet completely different. He’s not baring his fangs and his face isn’t twisting in righteous fury. He doesn’t have the appearance of a human-like beast, he is ethereal and magic itself. If she didn’t know better, perhaps she’d say he even looks...friendly?

Out of her trance, she finally reaches for her weapon but doesn’t remove it from her cloak.

“May I help you?” he says. His voice feels like it rattles the trees and creates the gust of chilly wind that whips across her ear. Something so deep must not be human, indeed. Do all elves sound like this?

“H-help me?” she responds. He hasn’t made a move.

“You look lost. Are you looking for something?”

He smiles, but then his eyes glisten with interest. “That cloak…”

She takes a step back, defensively holding it closer to her - her grandmother’s cloak. “What about it?”

“Where are you from?”

If he’s aware of her discomfort and fear, he doesn’t make it known. But, more than that, she can’t answer his question if she wanted to. She doesn’t really know. They’ve always lived so hidden.

The elf hums after the silence, cocking his head to the side and then turning back around. He murmurs something and light forms around him. Distant stars, still seemingly distant yet floating around him like he shrunk and blew the night into bubbles. She stares in awe. This is it - this is what she’s been looking for her whole life. Something new and amazing!

Her feet move on their own until she’s right in front of one. She moves her hands as if to cup the stars but not daring to disturb them. The elf peeks down at her but she can’t look away. If he kills her, so be it.

“Is this your first time seeing Star magic?”

“Any magic.”

“...Have you lived outside of Xadia until now?”

“Yes.”

Her answers come easily. She doesn’t care anymore about the danger. She’s seen the stars.

“What’s your name?”

“Elly.”

“Well, Elly, I am Aaravos. Is there a reason you have not been to Xadia?”

“Because of the war.”

“War? What war?” His tone snaps into seriousness and she finally looks up to him. His scleras are black. Somehow, it’s not as terrifying as it should be.

But it does make her stumble.

“The war...f-forcing humans out of Xadia.”

“By who?”

Shouldn’t he know? “By the elves and dragons.”

He goes quiet, studying her. Her grandmother couldn’t be wrong - she was never wrong. But life seemed so peaceful here, and this ‘Aaravos’ was looking at her with disbelief, and…

And it had to be true. It had to be true because she’d spent her whole life in hiding and that had to mean something.

“And why would they force the humans out?”

She could hear her grandmother’s words as she parroted what she’d always been told. “Because of dark magic.”

“And what is...dark magic?”

“It’s magic that takes the color from the world - to make new ones. It takes life to create new life. It’s something anyone can do.”

“Anyone?” he murmurs. He glances away from her, surveying the surroundings with suspicion. Aaravos then leans in to whisper.

“Even those with or without connection to an arcanum? Anyone?”

“Yes,” she whispers back.

They’re conspiring for something she’s unaware of.

Aaravos then smiles. “And where did you hear of this?”

“My grandmother. She’s a seer and historian.”

He nods. “Certainly. But… there has been no war on humans in Xadia.”

“That’s a lie. My grandmother is never wrong.”

The elf taps a curious finger to his bottom lip. “I don’t think she’s wrong, actually.”

“You don’t?”

“No. I think… she’s early.”

“Early?”

He nods. “Not wrong about the war, wrong about the time.”

Her stomach flips as Aaravos speaks something foreign again, lightly moving his hand in funny patterns while his eyes glow.

The stars she cups glitter and fade and she squeezes her hands into fists. She should’ve grabbed onto them and held on for dear life.

“Please,” she starts.

“I have more to show you, Elly.”

“Yes?”

“But you must do something for me, first,” he interjects.

“What is it?”

She’ll do anything he says for more magic delights.

“I want you to tell me everything your grandmother has said.”

She’s nodding before he even finishes his request. Anyone interested in knowledge can have it, as her grandmother once said.

“Deal.”  
  



End file.
